[HPforGrownups] Re: English/US differences and Phoenix.

[Amanda Lewanski]

No: HPFGUIDX 4476

"Brooks A. Rowlett" wrote:

> Usage:

Don't forget the fun stuff: sweaters/jumpers, lemon drop/sherbet lemon,
truck/lorry, etc.

> the Phoenix is
> extraordinarily rare - in fact, unique - there is only ONE phoenix at a
> time.

Yes, although it's considered a type of animal, not a singular one, in these
books. It's become simply another breed of magical animal in most modern games and
books. Usage changes, like the usage of "unique" itself--which means
one-of-a-kind, but which modern usage increasingly accepts as simply a
superlative, hence "very unique" and other such redundancies.

> (What is the plural of phoenix?

Phoenices, if you're anal about correct endings. I use "indices" too. Phoenixes if
you're not.

>  If there IS only one at a time,
> is a plural even relevant?)

No, not for the Phoenix, but in the books it is, and I think she uses phoenixes.
Standardization to English usage.

>  The Phoenix, since it is reborn from its
> own ashes, needs no mate or gender.

Yup. Although the construction of our language pretty much demands one, since "it"
seems pejorative when used for any living thing we've gotten attached to or that
seems to be a real personality. Hasn't Fawkes been referred to as a him?

--Amanda